Arranged Mate Bond

21-. Stitching up old wounds

Just wanted to start the chapter with a huge thank you to all of you! The silent readers, the ones that comment and of course the ones that vote. Especially the readers that take the time to vote on every chapter they come across! The support you show me in different kinds of ways all mean the world to me! Thank you all <3!

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Brooke's POV

With a new found self-confidence I hopped down the stairs.

Will met me at the end of the staircase. "Someone's in a good mood," Will commented with playful words, yet there was no trace of amusement to detect on his face.

"I am, actually. Caleb's calmed down, Elaine is doing fine. Aiden and I are handling the pack alright. Everyone seems happy," I responded as we walked out of the mansion.

"Hump," was all he said.

"Well, almost everyone." Two weeks later; Aiden and Will still weren't talking. That reminded me..

Will, who almost felt my speech coming, gave me an annoyed look in response.

"We're okay, right?" I asked and stopped walking.

Will sighed. "Yeah, we're good," he answered reluctantly turning to face me, not liking where the conversation was heading.

"I know I can't compare the friendship you have with Aiden to ours. And yes I think we have somewhat of a friendship growing between us here," I winked before continuing. "I just wonder why you let me off the hook so easily, but you can't do the same for Aiden. It's been two weeks now. Both of you need to stop acting like a couple of teenage girls and get over your pride."

"We were best friends before all of this," Will waved his hands at our surroundings. "If he couldn't confide in me or John with his secret than what is our friendship worth? What is my status as Third in command worth? From day one he kept on pushing words like 'trust' in our faces. He kept on saying 'you guys are my right hand. In order for me to trust you completely you need to be honest at all times'," He lowered his voice mockingly at the end in an attempt to sound like Aiden.

If it weren't for the seriousness of this conversation I would have laughed straight in his face for his failed impression of Aiden.

"This is different," I found myself saying defensively instead.

"What is so different about it? He demands from us to be honest at all times, but he can choose to be honest whenever he feels like it. That's not right. We put our lives on the line not only for the pack, but for him too. We follow his orders to the tee because he's our leader. In order for us to do that without second guessing his every step along the way he needs to be honest with us too. It goes both ways."

"You do realize that there was a third party involved in the story. This was as much my secret as it was his. Would you have treated me with even half of the respect that you're giving now? You would've acted completely different and you know it."

At this Will averted his gaze, looking ashamed, giving me his answer.

"Come on," I said to Will and walked past him towards the back of the house.

"Aren't we supposed to head out right about now?" Will asked, falling into step.

Walking around the mansion we ended in the backyard as I went straight for the terrace.

"Apparently Luna's can get away with being late," I grinned over my shoulder. "So that gives us all the time in the world."

"For some reason that doesn't sound very comforting," Will muttered under his breath.